During the Jan. 23 award ceremony, USAREUR personnel directorate singled out Diaz for his role as the sole human resources specialist for his battalion. He supports more than 400 Soldiers, and processes all battalion personnel actions, awards and evaluations.

"I've never had anything like this before," Diaz said. "It's great. It's a once in a lifetime thing."

The battalion, based in Baumholder, Germany, is trained to deploy as a command and control element of a medical task force and conduct combat health support operations. The unit falls under the 30th Medical Command, based at Sembach Kaserne.